The whole reason for the selfsufficientish website was to offer a place where anyone can ask, HOW DO I...? So who knows why it has taken us so long to have a HOW DO I? section, but here it is. So if you want to know how to do anything selfsufficientish then here is the place to ask.

I want to set up a permanent solar shower. Something like a shed with a shower in it, water heated by a solar panel type affair.

I know how to get the panel/pipe array type thing, and I've got a good idea of how to set up the inside. It's the getting the water up to the heating bit at the top that I'm confused about. I'd prefer to do it without having mains electricity pumping the water up.

I've done this most summers for yonks(wouldn't bother this one though).It's not exactly hi-tech.....

Take a pipe from an outside tap,connect to coiled pipe on flat roof (or make a flat roof on your shower cubicle and coil it on that),and ,always supposing it's warm enough ,feed in a cold water mixing pipe with a tap to regulate flow and thereby adjust heat.
You could (in UK) use Hozelock type fittings to make it all easier,the best pipe for coiling on the roof is the black stuff used to connect underground to out side water taps,most farmers have some lying about,so try farm sales or new from Agri merchants.(God only knows where you get it inChina, Fee, but 10 to 1 on all ours comes from there,so hunt about.)

If none of this makes sense( it's early ,and I havent had a drink for 3 days) check out the Instructables site,there's invariably some bloke making one of these. BWs.

People here put i big plastic barral painted black on their roofs. There will be a pipe going in to fill it and a pipe going out to your shower. Simples. You could even connect a few barrals together to get more hot water. Make sure your roof can support the weight though.

the.fee.fairy wrote:It's the getting the water up to the heating bit at the top that I'm confused about. I'd prefer to do it without having mains electricity pumping the water up.

In the UK, the mains water pressure would be plenty strong enough to push the water up there. I don't know it that's true in China, but I'd imagine it would be (assuming water goes down pipes into people's houses in much the same way - I've never even thought about whether there might be a different way of supplying water).

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Rachel

Take nobody's word for it, especially not mine! If I offer you an ID of something based on a photo, please treat it as a guess, and a starting point for further investigations.